Anthony Lamacchia, founder of Crush It In Real Estate training, and industry veteran Allan Dalton have announced the launch of a new, nationwide training and certification program, the Certified Real Estate Consultant(SM). Developed in conjunction with RISMedia Founder & CEO John Featherston, the online course is designed to elevate a real estate professional’s value, reputation and relationship with consumers in order to become their lifelong consultant.
The Certified Real Estate Consultant certification was designed to transform the relationship between homeowners and real estate professionals by equipping agents with the tools to elevate their relevance and value. By delivering meaningful, tangible guidance even when clients aren’t actively buying or selling, agents can strengthen relationships that benefit both consumers and their own long-term success. The course achieves this by providing step-by-step strategies and resources that shift the agent/client dynamic from transactional to lifelong.
“The Certified Real Estate Consultant movement was created to elevate the role of the real estate professional from a normal, everyday salesperson to a legitimate real estate consultant,” said Lamacchia, broker/owner of Lamacchia Realty and CEO of Lamacchia Companies and the highly popular, brand-agnostic Crush It In Real Estate. “This program represents the collaboration of industry leadership, media credibility and real-world brokerage success, designed not for a single company, but for the entire profession.”
According to Dalton, the Certified Real Estate Consultant program will help agents close the “real estate loyalty gap” by bringing value to homeowners year round, when they are not in the market to buy or sell.
“There are three levels of real estate value and there are three corresponding levels of real estate competency,” explained Dalton. “One is transactional value. The other is relationship value or real estate planning, and the other is home-asset value. The industry has done a phenomenal job on the first level, the real estate transaction level. The challenge moving forward is to do something about the other two verticals that were either ignored or avoided: Real estate planning and home asset management.”
“The majority of real estate relationships do not extend in a meaningful way during the many years homeowners are not on the market,” continued Dalton. “Once the transaction ends, so does the agent’s relevance in the client’s day-to-day decision-making. Without a clearly defined post-transaction role, agents become either forgotten or interchangeable.”
The Certified Real Estate Consultant(SM) intends to help real estate professionals rise to the same level as a financial advisor in the consumer’s mind. To achieve this, the certification course instructs agents on how to transform their database into a client-based practice that focuses on relationships, referrals and consultative in-home appointments. The goal is to help agents grow influence, deepen client trust and build consistent, long-term business.
“Life insurance agents decades ago evolved into certified financial planners, in order to deliver sustained value and build enduring relationships with their clients,” said Dalton. “Real estate professionals in an AI-influenced world must now evolve into Certified Real Estate Consultants to build and protect their present and future transactions and referrals.”
According to Certified Real Estate Consultant program participant Christine Serafini with the Miranda Real Estate Group in Albany, New York, the course provided a “powerful mindset shift from focusing on transactions to truly serving as a professional real estate consultant.”
“It helped me build a strong ecosystem of trusted home-service providers and positioned me as the strategic partner for my past clients, guiding them in decisions about their homes, equity and futures,” she said. “This course reinforced that our role isn’t just to sell homes—it’s to provide ongoing service and value.”
Participants in the certification program will take part in a step-by-step video training course with 30 modules featuring Lamacchia and/or Dalton, as well as Lamacchia Realty VP of Sales Mike McGrory and VP of Marketing Lindsay Favazza. Program members will also receive a planning guide, workbook and 5-Step In-Home Consultation system. Upon passing the exam and graduating from the course, participants will receive an official certificate, marketing collateral, a consultant pin, and have the opportunity to take part in the Certified Real Estate Consultant exclusive network, including regularly scheduled online—and eventually, in-person—meet-ups.
“Our collective industry has taken a hit in the commission-lawsuit era, and it is time to restore the consumer’s trust and value in real estate professionals,” said Featherston. “The complexities and challenges in today’s real estate market necessitates that agents transform from salesperson to consultant—on all aspects of homeownership, not just buying and selling. The chance to learn from the collective wisdom, experience and success of Anthony and Allan is an opportunity real estate professionals don’t want to miss.”
According to Lamacchia and Dalton, the Certified Real Estate Consultant course and designation is more important than ever amid the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence.
“AI is your new competition,” said Lamacchia. “AI is giving people answers, so now you are at risk of AI taking over as the authority in the client’s eyes. So if AI is the information source, and Zillow and Realtor.com® are where people go to look for property, now we’re under threat. How do you solve that? You solve that by cultivating relationships and having loyal clients for life. This is why we created the Certified Real Estate Consultant course, so that we give agents a step-by-step guide on how to do this.”
“Technology can provide data. Artificial intelligence can answer questions. But neither can sit at a kitchen table, look a homeowner in the eye and offer thoughtful, strategic guidance about their most valuable asset,” added Dalton. “That is your opportunity.”
For more information and to sign up and begin the Certified Real Estate Professional program, click here.
